Highly efficient adsorption and catalytic degradation of ciprofloxacin by a novel heterogeneous Fenton catalyst of hexapod-like pyrite nanosheets mineral clusters

Herein, a novel hexapod-like pyrite nanosheets mineral cluster was prepared via a facile hydrothermal method. Compared with classical homogeneous Fenton processes, this catalyst possessed a higher adsorption capacity and catalytic activity to ciprofloxacin (20 mg/L), which could be completely degraded within 10 min at pH 4.0. •OH was the main reactive oxygen species responsible for ciprofloxacin degradation. Br− (≥ 1 mM), I− (≥ 1 mM), and high concentration of F− ions (≥ 10 mM) exhibited an inhibition effect on ciprofloxacin degradation, but the Cl− ions (0–100 mM) did not show obvious effects on ciprofloxacin removal. Thirteen intermediates were qualitatively identified, and degradation mechanism was tentatively proposed for ciprofloxacin. Several toxic intermediates were produced, but they could be fully mineralized and detoxified by this heterogeneous Fenton catalyst after 30 min reaction. The work provides a novel heterogeneous Fenton catalyst to purify and detoxify antibiotics as well as other refractory organic pollutants contaminated wastewater.